Tom Asacker

Are our brand choices optimal ones?

According to Drolet (UCLA), Luce (Duke University), and Simonson (Stanford University),  it depends. 

In an upcoming paper in the Journal of Consumer Research titled "When Does Choice Reveal Preference? Moderators of Heuristic vs. Goal Based Choice" the researchers contend that when our minds are busy with other tasks, our product choices are less likely to reflect our ideal choices.  To use some lingo from my new book, they've discovered that our Happy Now "feeling" selves take control of our choices when our Happy Life "thinking" selves become overwhelmed with . . . well . . . thinking. 

Their research also identified two basic factors that determine our use of heuristics (or mental shortcuts, rules of thumb, brand names, etc.).  One is our relative desire to think through our choices (referred to as NFC, or need for cognition), and the other is our cognitive load (how busy we are thinking about things).

So what does all of this tell us?  Nothing new, really.  But it is a good reminder nonetheless:  If you want to make appropriate choices for long-term satisfaction, slow down and make a considered choice.  But here's the bad news: When we become overwhelmed with the sheer amount of choice and information (cognitive load), we're going to have the tendency to rely on heuristics (mental shortcuts, rules of thumb, brands, etc.) in any event.

I particularly liked this paradoxical statement by the authors: "The present research provides new insights into the conditions under which consumers' choices will be reflective of their self-goals and hence the degree to which choices might be expected to reveal preferences."

Which "self's goals?"  I believe it should read, " . . . the degree to which choices might be expected to reveal Happy Life's preferences."  I'm pretty sure that Happy Now's goals were optimized.  :)

And I thought brands were dead and irrelevant

"During regular 'blind taste tests,' in which Microsoft asks randomly-selected consumers to score the quality of results from various Internet search engines, the quality of Microsoft’s search results have so improved that people can’t tell the difference between Microsoft and Google search results, says Mr. Mehdi, senior vice president of Microsoft’s online audience business group. But when Microsoft slaps the Google brand name on the results from Microsoft’s own search engine during another portion of its tests, users invariably score them highest."

“Just by putting the name up, people think it’s more relevant,” he says. WSJ Blogs

Now isn't that surprising; that an expectation would change both the perception of an experience as well as the actual experience? Sorry, but no it is not.  Take notice all of you utility and performance zealots.

Interesting this week

1.  Facebook culture

On Wednesday, Facebook confirmed that it had signed up its 200 millionth user.  If you're intrigued by this new phenomenon, relax with a cup of tea and listen to this Boston NPR program with Tom Ashbrook. WBUR.org

2.  From buy, buy to bye-bye

The recession will have a lasting impact on the way people shop. No kidding.  Economist.com  And here are a couple of relevant, but differing, blog posts on the subject: Armano and McCracken

3.  BMA's April 2009 podcast

On how to have more authentic relationships with customers and create experiences that differentiate you from other companies; featuring Dev Patnaik, Founder and Principal of Jump Associates, Rohit Bhargava, Senior Vice President, Strategy and Marketing for Ogilvy 360 Digital Influence, and yours truly.  BMA

4.  The problem with problems

The "problem with problems" is that organizations develop a kind of deficit thinking that dwells on what is wrong instead of identifying what is right, writes Fred Collopy, professor at the Weatherhead School of Management at Case Western Reserve University.  The good professor has the essence of the problem right, although he never really spells it out:  Organizations should relentlessly focus on (brainstorm, encourage, reward, talk about, share, etc.) those activities that add unique value to the lives of its audience.  Everything else should be reinvented, eliminated or ignored.  BusinessWeek

5.  The big brand distinction

"It doesn't matter what people think about you or your brand.  What matters is how you make them feel about themselves and their decisions in your presence."  I've written those two lines in every one of my books, and I've included them - along with a detailed explanation -  in just about every presentation I've ever given.  But most marketers still have a difficult time with that distinction; both in understanding it and practicing it.  Well, perhaps this short blog post by my friend Grant McCracken will help make it a bit more clear (the comments help as well): Tina Fey on Amy Poehler on branding now

6. I Hate My iPhone

Virginia Heffernan can write.  The NY Times Magazine

Tom and Tom

Tom Peters and I had a fun blog exchange over the past few days.  He wrote:

Daily Wisdom for Troubled Times

Get up earlier.
Go to bed later.
Work harder.
Finish what you start.
Learn one new thing.
Renew one contact.
Ask, "How can I help you?" at least once.
Make yourself visible.
Be of good cheer.
Catch a break.
Or not.
Repeat tomorrow.

I commented:

Sleep in tomorrow.
Unplug.
Take a walk in the woods.
Don't try to figure out a damn thing.
Breathe.
Make a whistle from an acorn top.
Say, "You are very lucky. Be at peace." At least a dozen times.
Be invisible.
Be of open heart.
Catch a fish.
Or not.
Repeat weekly.

He responded:

"Brilliant! Combine both = Dynamite?  Presumably the two lists could be used together. I think so."

I came back with:

"I LOVE the idea! There is no dark without light. No work without rest. No downs without ups. No meaningful passion without compassion. 'Dynamic Equilibrium: The Secret to Success in an Age of Turbulence.'  Quick! Call your publisher. :)"

That was a lot of fun!  Thanks Tom.

Things I should tweet today but blogged instead

Marketing success used to be driven by superior resources - reach and frequency.  From here on out it will be driven by superior intelligence - social and creative.

This recent quote in AdWeek by Lewis Goldman, svp of brand marketing at 1-800-Flowers, struck me as kind of funny: "Our business is all about giving gifts and reconnecting with the people we love.  It's what social networking is all about."  Yea, right.

How many words in the dictionary have been linked with the concept of brand and branding?  Let's see, there's emotional branding, sonic branding, primal branding, sensory  branding, digital branding, employer branding, personal branding, integrated branding, no-brand branding, brand name, brandnomer, brand essence, brand identity, brand promise, brand recognition, brand experience, brand architecture, brand extension, brah ha ha!  And the American Marketing Association, of all groups, is promoting another one: Verbal Branding.  Whatever.

This has nothing to do with anything, but I just read this and couldn't stop smiling and shaking my head.  A Florida eighth-grader was suspended for three days for farting on the school bus. Jonathan Locke “passes gas on the bus to make the other children laugh and it is so stink [sic] that you can’t breathe,” said the bus driver on a complaint form. Jonathan’s father said trying to prevent eighth-graders from laughing about farts was probably futile, and the boy said the fart in question wasn’t even his. “It was a kid who sits in front of me.”  Wow.  No one wants to accept responsibility for anything today.  :-)

Have a great day!  And. . . make sure to tweet something. Preferably from this blog post.   :-)

Innovation is the real cue to value

Take a look at the following and answer me this: If it were a standard feature on all of GMs new cars, wouldn't you be compelled to check them out further?

Thanks to David Goodison for the video tip.

Amazing video and metaphors aplenty

One could craft dozens of competitive marketplace allegories and analogies from this survival of the fittest stunner; everything from the advantages of environment and speed to the power of collective might. 

However, the one analogy that is dated, the one that many continue to erroneously make, is the one comparing this event to the struggle, battle, war, etc. for customers. Why? Because customers are no longer weak and passive like the baby water buffalo. In fact, today they more closely resemble the herd.

Thank you Emily Cottingham (emcott) for the twitted link.

The end of brands . . . again

 "Twitter is about to get a digital boost from the new Apple iphone.  With this device we might be able to finally declare that Web 3.0 is here.  Twitter will come alive on this new platform. Facebook can become relevant and remarkable in surprising new ways. LinkedIn has work to do if it is to catch up with these developments. BIG changes are heading our way! Brands will die - overnight. Filters (tools that turn 'many:one' into 'one:one' conversations) will replace brands - overnight." - Richard Lipscombe, in a comment on Tom Peter's blog.

I love Richard's passion, and I told him so.  And I don't disagree with much of what he has written (other than in scale and timing).  But he's a bit confused when he writes, "Brands will die - overnight."  The truth is that brands - which are nothing more than signs that point to expected value -  will not only survive in this cheap and plentiful, customer-controlled environment called the "Social Web," they'll thrive.  Why?  Just take a look at a single page from Guy Kawasaki's topic aggregation service called Alltop.

That one page contains 76 blogs on branding (branding for heaven's sake, not baseball), with headlines and links to close to 400 posts!  And that's just the tip of the branding iceberg.  Now, no one in his or her right mind (and certainly no one with a full-time job) is going to spend each day reading every single post.  So what will they do? 

They'll scan (like they do with the household products aisle at the supermarket).  They'll filter and create a list of favorites (like they do with their choices of cereals and cookies).  They'll get recommendations from their friends (like they do for TV shows and movies).  They'll choose a trusted advisor (like they do for financial and legal services).  In other words, they'll employ the marketplace concept known as "brand."

Time and attention are scarce and valuable resources today (perhaps the most valuable).  And as the marketplace for products, services, entertainment and ideas becomes even more crowded and more complex, the need for "shortcuts" - for "brands" - will become even more important.  We'll have to have an efficient and dependable way to choose from the sheer mass of options, so that we choose the ones that are just right for us.

Don't delude yourself: brands aren't dead.  They're not even on life support.  To the contrary, they're getting ready to infest the Web.  Are you ready?

Crazy people are not the problem

Angry people are.  Those angry at the situation, at others' choices, at the world, at life.